The revolving door in the Chicago Bears secondary continues as the Bears ushered in Tim Jennings and cut loose Nathan Vasher.  When I heard the Bears signed the 5’8″ 185 pound cornerback from Indianapolis, my first thought was, “that shows you what they think of Nathan Vasher.”

So it came as no surprise to me today when word came that the Bears released Vasher.  Although Vasher started his Bears career strong, recording 16 interceptions in his first three seasons, including a Pro Bowl selection in 2005, he faded quickly.

Vash struggled in the last few seasons.  He battled injuries in ’07-’08 and basically forgot how to cover and/or tackle, leading to a nice, cozy seat on the bench in ’09.  The Bears got so desperate, they even tried Vasher at safety.

The worst part is that Vasher got a big, fat contract and failed to do anything since.  Sound familiar?  Maybe this will be the wake up cal he needs to get back his old form.

Here’s my favorite Vasher Chicago Bears moment, his 108-yard missed FG return against the 49ers on a ridiculously windy game at Soldier Field back in 2006.  Take special note of the escort that Brian Urlacher provides.  How many guys does he block on this return?  Awesome play!

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Rookie sensation Johnny Knox leaves on a cart.

Johnny Knox had his leg folded underneath him on a kickoff return and had to be carted off.  Later, Peanut Tillman drew some friendly fire from teammate Craig Steltz that forced Tillman to leave the field on a stretcher and had to be taken immediately to the hospital.

Early reports indicate that both players will be OK, but it’s unlikely that you’ll see either of them in the season finale against the Lions.

Knox has an ankle sprain that might get Juaquin Iglesias some time against the Lions, while Tillman suffered fractured ribs that will keep him sidelined.  Expect to see Corey Graham or Nathan Vasher to see time at corner next week against the Lions.

If you still have fantasy football playoffs going on next week, Calvin Johnson’s status just bumped up a couple of notches.

Peanut Tillman and Lance Briggs team up to take down Fred Taylor

We’re still three days until the start of what is being called “Camp Cutler”, but some attention is shifting from prized acquisition Jay Cutler and turning toward the Bears defense.  According to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Bears cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman underwent arthroscopic surgery on his back and is expected to miss most of training camp. From David Haugh’s article this evening:

The Bears will start practice Friday without starting cornerback Charles Tillman, their most proven defensive back, who will be out indefinitely with a back injury, the Tribune has learned.

Tillman recently underwent an arthroscopic surgical procedure to clean up a disc in his back. A similar condition caused him to miss the final two games of 2006. If the recovery goes well, the Bears expect Tillman to be back in time to play in the final preseason game Sept. 3 so he can see some action before the Sept. 13 season opener.

The curse of the North Shore University Health Systems strikes already!  What was I saying when the Bears announced their practice jerseys would be sponsored by a hospital chain? Oh yeah:  (more…)

The Bears’ draft pick and trade coffers are a bit depleted, so they might need to sweeten the pot to pull off a trade for Marshall.  Who could the Bears give up?  Denver had a woeful defense in ’08, so they could use some help on that side of the ball.  Would Brian Urlacher be on interest?  Nathan Vasher or Charles Tillman?  Not much to give up on the other side of the ball except maybe Devin Hester?  Would you be willing to give him up to land a talent like Marshall?   

In other news..

Rex Grossman avoided major embarrassment and signed to compete as the backup for the Texans.  Too bad he wasn’t named the starter – maybe Andre Johnson would want out of Houston.  As I tweeted last week, “Houston, you have a problem!  It’s Tex Rex!”

Plaxico Burress’ gun case has been postponed until September.   Latest word out there is that he is actively negotiating do sign a deal before training camp opens.  Lots of speculation still links the troubled receiver to the Bears, but nothing definitive yet.

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The real odds are not quite so dire, as an ESPN blog has the Bears as a 5-1 shot to land Cutler.  (more…)

If you think the arrow is pointing up for the Bears’ offense, the once-heralded defense is another story.  Long gone is the defense that carried the Bears to Super Bowl XLI.   The defense that ranked 5th overall in the NFL in 2006 has been in steady decline in the two seasons since.  The team that ranked 3rd in scoring defense in 2006, slid down to 16th the last two seasons.  In fact, last year the team’s average PPG was 21.8 compared to 21.9 this season.  That’s a far cry from the 15.9 PPG in the Super Bowl season of 2006.  Many will point to schemes and coaching.  I’ll dedicate a separate post just to address those issues.  In the meantime, let’s break it down: (more…)

Starting cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher are both becoming question marks week-by-week for their availability on Sundays.  Vasher has a wrist injury and Tillman appeared at Halas Hall today with his arm in a black sling after a shoulder injury that took him out of Sundays game.  Tillman’s replacement, Trumaine McBride, injured his shoulder later in the game and had to come out.  Safety Danieal Manning suffered hamstring troubles and will also miss practice time this week.  Oh, and don’t forget safety Brandon McGowan has already been put on injured reserve earlier in the season. 

The Bears are a leg injury to Mike Brown away from complete disaster at the secondary.  This is not a good way to go into a game against the Vikings and former teammate Bernard Berrian.  The Bears could be forced to put second year corner Corey Graham and Marcus Hamilton, just signed from the Tampa Bay Bucs a few weeks ago as their starting corners. 

Tillman and Vasher are still holding on to hopes of playing this Sunday, but neither are 100% and would have to play through the pain.  This Sunday could be a repeat on last Sunday when the Bears did a great job of stopping the run but appeared helpless stopping the pass.  The front four on defense will have to work twice as hard to get at the quarterback and create havoc.  If the Vikings pass the ball a lot, they may force the Bears to take linebackers of the field (their strength) and put an extra corner on the field (their weakness). 

The more I see of this Bears defense, the more I think we need to start talking about talented safeties coming out of college and entering next year’s draft.  Coaches are making due with safeties and corners selected in fifth and sixth rounds of the past few drafts.  Some have some talent but none are particularly ready to take on a starting role on their own.  As good as the Bears defense may be, it lacks an intimidating presence at safety to put next to Mike Brown.  Kevin Payne has emerged as a solid starter with his solid tackling and good coverage, but he cannot take on the load himself.  After a couple injuries this defense gets thin very fast in the secondary. 

The one bright spot is the Vikings commitment to the run and Adrian Peterson may force them to stick with the run and keep a more balance attack.  The Bears defense can handle stopping the run and will certainly look for payback after Peterson torched them last season.  However, at some point the Vikings will have to go to the air and if the Bears cannot find a way to put pressure on either the quarterback or the receiver, this could be an ugly game. 

More importantly, the Bears are trying to figure out what chemistry is leading to losing games late.  Last week the Bears opted to start cornerback Corey Graham instead of veteran Nathan Vasher for what they called personnel matchups.  I’m a bit perplexed since Vasher is probably the most talented corner the Bears have had in a while and has shown a great ability to get interceptions.  Perhaps it served as a wake up call to Vasher that he needs to step up his game if this defense is going to continue to do well.  The passing defense has looked horrible and opposing quarterbacks are doing whatever they want, leading to easy touchdowns late in the game.

The scapegoat appears to be linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer, who is the player responsible for giving up key touchdowns late in both losses.  Hunter is an extremely smart, capable linebacker, but it is obvious teams have found a way to exploit his weaknesses.  Coaches have a tough decision if they will continue with Hillenmeyer or give capable backups Nick Roach and Jamar Williams more playing time. 

The Bears seemed perfectly healthy a week ago but now that the losses are piling up, so are the injuries.  There is no reason the Bears shouldn’t be 3-0 right now except for the complete breakdown of the defense late in the game.  The starting point for me is lack of pressure on the quarterback.  The Bears have always prided themselves on good defense and a strong rotation of players to apply constant pressure on the quarterback.  There is something wrong with the Bears front four, they should be more productive and producing more sacks. 

There are rumors that Tommie Harris is having knee problems again and he is attempting to play through the pain yet again.  Whether its true or not, that doesn’t excuse the rest of the men on the line for getting taken out of the game.  Brian Griese may be accurate but he sure is not nimble and the Bears should have been able to get at him with the blitz.  Instead he tore the Bears defense up for the winning drive. 

The penalties late in the game that cost the Bears were probably pure frustration for the sudden inability to hold the lead late.  That isn’t the identity the Bears defense has carved for itself and they have not changed any of the players from previous years.  Fans are starting to turn to coaches for answers and more specifically, defensive coach Bob Babich.  His defenses and blitzes are working good throughout the game, but opposing teams are making easy reads and finding ways to beat them late.  More needs to be done to change up the defensive attack late in games to keep offenses confused and maintain the win.  If not, the murmurs are already starting in Chicago for a change in coaching staff if this trend continues.